Well…with the big christian music festival going on here next week, a thought entered my mind when I rode by the landing where the setup is being done…what do christian rock roadies do on their off time? It’s well known that normal rock roadies fight, drink, swear, and chase women…so what do christian roadies do? Bible study? And what kind of person would do that kind of work…Ned Flanders? Just curious….oh, when I was riding by the marina today I saw a sad looking dog on a 20 ft sailboat and I wonder if dogs on such small boats get bored? There’s nothing for them to do and no place for them to go…but I guess it’s not much different from dogs in small apartments…never could figure that out, either…oh, saw another stoat last week in a different place so I don’t think it is the same one I saw a month or so ago…and I can’t figure out how I never saw one when I was a kid with all of the time I spent in the woods…one last thing, I’ve seen more Kingfishers since I moved here than I have in my whole life, too….saw two of them at one time yesterday along the same stretch of trail and that is pretty unusual for me, too…kind of cool, though…

Well…out of bed again at 6:34 this morning after waking up for the first time at about 5:30 but that triggered a strange dream about garage doors…yeah, it was weird for me, too….I’m not as sore as I thought I was going to be after playing pretty hard in the waves yesterday but it did some damage to my elbow and it hurts again today and that is one I can’t figure out…and my right ear still has water in it and I’ve never had that problem before…oh, well….feel a little worn out today and that seems to be normal now…still not sure how well I’m sleeping but it feels like it’s not too well…okay, enough of that….it was pretty cool to get in the waves for the first time this year and I hope there are more times for that this summer…the water has been just perfect the past couple of weeks and takes no time to get used to it….I guess being able to swim any day I want I’ll have to learn the best time to go out….there have been times when it has been pretty busy out there but I’ve always been able to find a spot to park so that is cool….not much to do today…I am going to work a little on the trim for the walk in door on the garage so I can paint it next week and i was planning on making a pizza but I may wait on that til tomorrow and let my green pepper get a little bigger before I pick it…have leftovers to be used so I can use those up, too….more later….

Well…didn’t get on the bike until around one today as I waited for the rain to stop…not that I wanted it to stop, it is so dry out here that we need all the rain we can get…but, on the ride, I saw that there were some pretty big waves on the lake that I wanted to play in…so I skipped the second ride, jumped in the car, and went out to have a little fun…and I did….stayed out there for over an hour until I ran out of steam and I know I’m going to hurt tomorrow since everything already hurts but damn, it was worth it….the waves were almost 5 footers and I got a few body surfing rides of almost a hundred feet in and that was just a hoot…and I finally figured out the swirling rip currents but it was still hard to get out of the water when I got tired…oh, and a coast guard helicopter came over and hovered for a few seconds for some reason….maybe it was the red flag that was out to keep people out of the water…but, I’ve been doing this for over 60 years so I think I can handle it….and now I know I can get out there any day there are waves to play in and that makes me smile….

Well…finally, it’s raining pretty hard out here and there are even a few rumbles of thunder…it’s so dark I had to put the lamp on to be able to see to do this….and it looks like I will be able to get out to get one ride in today after lunch…I did get out to get measuring cups and a mixing bowl at the dollar store today so pizza is on for tomorrow…but that means I have to freeze the thighs I got wed since they really won’t keep in the fridge for a week…I had to put the top up on the car for the first time this summer running errands this morning and I even ran the ac for the first time this summer, too…and I am amazed that it still works on a 27 year old car and kept me cool…but it is so damn funny how slow the car is with it running…probably takes 25% of the car’s power just to run the compressor and that makes a slow car REALLY slow…I do have to steel myself for city-sanctioned noise that is coming later today and through Sunday from a christian music festival that is being held at Heritage Landing just down the hill from here…that is going to be annoying as hell so I may have to close up the front of the house and turn the tv up louder for the next three days…oh, well….part of living in the city I guess….

Well…it looks like I’m going to be forced into easing into the day today with rain that is about a half hour away so I won’t be getting on the bike until after I run errands around 8:30 or so…and I probably need that with feeling so worn out lately….I did get out to the beach yesterday but even that is feeling like a task to be accomplished lately….just like everything else and I need to figure out how to enjoy things again…I am going to make a pizza tomorrow and I know I’m going to enjoy that…haven’t made one since I’ve lived here and I don’t know why….I make a pretty good crust but I need to find the recipe in one of my notebooks….but I need a new mixing bowl and that means a run to the dollar store today, too….and they don’t open til 9 so I can just take it easy this morning….I will probably have to put the top up on the car this morning…can’t remember the last time I’ve had to do that with the lack of rain out here….it will probably be a bit of a pain since the tops shrinks when I don’t latch it…not much to do today….just the errands and one ride today and then working on the door frame on the garage so I can get paint next week and get the 5 of them painted….will still probably need to water the lawn today, too, with the small amount of rain that is coming….more later….

Well…another 6:40 morning today and I am still waiting for a real day of sleeping in…I seem to be fatigued all the time lately and I’m not sure why that would be other than I’m getting old…I do feel good that my elbow seems to be able to heal after I abuse it and it only has a little pain this morning…and my right foot is almost back to normal size after a year of swelling….yeah, I do sound pretty creaky….going to get out on the bike here in a minute but I’m not sure if I’m going to do two rides today since I want to go out to the beach for a swim and doing two would put me out there when it’s a little busy but we’ll see…didn’t get much done yesterday and today will be the same if I go out to the beach but I’m running out of summer and need to get busy on the outside of the house and I need to get my winter wheels cleaned up and painted so I can buy new snow tires for the Miata…will probably need to start planning my projects again so they will all get done…but I’ve had to plan everything my whole life and I thought being retired I could stop that….not much to do today…it’s 7:27 and I’m already getting anxious about getting started and that seems to be a little sick…I’m retired damn it….I need to figure out how to just live and I don’t know how….more later…

Well…after getting the grocery runs in this morning, I got on the bike and did the first ride and my legs were okay but very painful and the second ride was about the same…taking a couple of days to only ride once after working around here was probably a good idea…I know I have to tamp down the guilts when I only ride once, especially when I work outside in the heat and humidity…but my elbow is so stiff I can barely move it but it doesn’t hurt too bad so I can live with it…and it should get better until I get back to cleaning the house siding but I’ll probably wait on that til next week…or Friday if I get out to the beach tomorrow…need to get out there more and I need to clean my car…it is very dusty out here and the interior is full of it so that could be something to do this weekend even though I like to take the weekends off…we’ll see…I did get the lawn watered today but just the little watering I do has driven my water bill up by more than 50% to 38 bucks last month…I can afford it and I know I have to keep doing it if I want to have any lawn at all with how little it rains out here….and I have made improvements to it that I don’t want to have to start over with….okay, that’s it….going to take the rest of the day off and just veg a while…still didn’t get my mixing bowl yet since my dollar store didn’t have one today…will have to check at the one on the other side of the city Friday…..no more later…

Well…running a bit late today with staying in bed til almost 7 but I don’t feel like I slept at all….doing the front steps yesterday really hurt and my elbow is the worst it’s been in a long while….I really hate getting old…..had some computer problems yesterday that I fixed on my own but I thought I was going to have to get a new one…this one is getting pretty old and I guess I’ll have to start planning for the day when I will have to buy a new one…along with getting a new phone that I should have gotten a couple of weeks ago…have a lot to do today with the grocery runs and hitting the dollar store to get a new mixing bowl and measuring cups so I can make a pizza later in the week….but my green peppers have stalled in their growth so I may have to wait until next week…my garden is a disappointment and I do need to figure out what went wrong so I can fix it next year….a little consolation is that the flower seeds that I planted along the back of the house have come up and have added some color to the yard…I do need to remember to water them when I plant next spring….not much to do today…I really should clean my car in the next couple of days since the interior is pretty dusty and the floor mats need to be vacuumed but I’m still not too motivated….just damn tired and could use a day off….more later…

Well…I really did think that a gallon of Thompson’s water seal would be enough to do my front steps but I was wrong…still have about 1/4th of it to do after using the gallon so I guess I’ll have to buy more next week…it does look better with it treated but my elbow is shot after using a paint brush to do the detail work and the pain is pretty intense…and it took forever with getting to take a tour of the house that is being rehabbed across the street when Dan, who is working on the house, came over to chat…they used the color scheme that I am going to use on this place with differing shades of grey…looked very cool and modern and I hope it will do the same here….needless to say, that not getting done until almost 2 will keep me off the bike for the second ride and I’m okay with that….I’m sore everywhere and need to rest a bit….

Well…another 6:42 morning today and I feel pretty damn tired…and that comes with skipping the second bike ride yesterday trying to be smart to not trigger another dehydration episode with mowing the lawn and doing the edging out front….screwed up my elbow again but it seems to be healing faster this time and barely hurts this morning…but the front looks good so it’s worth it…I am going out to get some wood sealer to do the front steps today since the wood looks so dry after I cleaned it and you do need to treat wood to keep it from deteriorating….so that may keep me off the bike again this afternoon but we’ll see…I’m slowly getting the outside done and should have it ready for fall and winter…I’m still disappointed in my tomato yield and probably won’t even have enough to make salsa and that sucks….but I like the pickles I’ve made and need to make another couple of jars…and I do have flowers that have come up along the back of the house so that is cool….never thought they would with the lack of rain but I guess watering for the sunflowers has helped that….I think I’m going to the beach Thursday so this week may be one of only one ride a day and I can live with that….running out of summer and want to have a few days to take it easy….not much to do today….going to get on the bike here in a minute but need to read some news and have coffee first…I am a little excited about doing the front steps today and seeing how that will look….little things still make me happy and I want to finish the outside by the end of the month to be able to relax during the fall….more later….